Oil Rivers Protectorate

I have my doubts about this flag. The area in the centre is the Royal Arms. I think it unlikely that the badge was ever used on a Blue Ensign or a Union Jack.

The protectorate was established in 1885, and in 1893 was extended and re-named the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900 this enlarged protectorate was amalgamated with the southern part of the territory that had been administered by the Royal Niger Company to form the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

The problem is that the Oil Rivers Protectorate and the Niger Coast Protectorate were administered by the Foreign Office and not transferred to the Colonial Office until 1899. Any Oil Rivers flags would have been of a consular nature. According to Van Steenbergen the flag of the consul at Creektown, Old Calabar in 1860, was a White Ensign with K in the upper fly, E in the lower hoist and H in the lower fly. In 1891 the consul at Old Calabar was replaced by a Commissioner and a consul-general.
David Prothero, 04 February 2000